Applying to college has always been a stressful process for students, as they face the challenges of SATs, extracurriculars, Advanced Placement courses, and admissions essays. More recently, however, some students have had to confront an additional concern—enhanced immigration enforcement activity has raised questions about the safety of providing information about their own and their family’s citizenship status when applying for college financial aid.
According to college counselor Stacie Sheffie, there has always been a level of concern among students regarding sharing personal information—such as their social security number or financial information—as part of the process of applying to college. However, the current climate has magnified those concerns.
“Families seem to be very nervous at times, especially in the climate we’re living in, about just talking about their citizenship status,” she said.
While such tension has always been there, there is now a tangible “fear of the consequences or repercussions for your family,” including potential detainment, according to Sheffie.
Although only U.S. citizens are eligible to complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), the application requires financial disclosure about the students’ families; thus, it poses a dilemma for families with diverse immigration status.
“That’s what we’re finding,” Sheffie said. “Mixed-status families are the most difficult situations because you have students who are citizens with parents who are in between status or maybe not willing to disclose their status, and then that becomes difficult.”
Despite the potential challenges of applying for financial aid, Sheffie noted that if a student’s family has already disclosed financial information to the government (if their family filed income tax returns, for example), filling out FAFSA should not pose any further risk.
In addition, those who are ineligible for FAFSA may be eligible for other financial aid offered by the state of California, including through the California Dream Act Application (CADAA), which provides the opportunity to receive state financial aid for college for students who are undocumented (DACA recipients), those who have temporary protected status, and who come from mixed-status families.
According to the California Student Aid Commission, information collected as part of the application is never shared with federal agencies.
An anonymous LAUSD student said their parents have had concerns about providing so much personal information when filling out college and financial aid applications.
“My parents have even considered for me to not even go to college at all,” they said. “It’s scary because you don’t know if they’ll use that information against you.”
Junior Malinda Veloz Venegas said she could understand how the fear of personal details being used against them might deter some students from applying for financial aid, putting up even higher barriers to attend college.
“I just feel like that can put fear into incoming college students to not fill out the FAFSA,” Veloz Venegas said. “Maybe they’re not undocumented, but their family is, and they might be afraid that their information might be used for ICE to separate their family.”
Veloz Venegas said the current political atmosphere has caused her to rethink her college plans.
“It’s also made me ponder if it’s worth going to college right now, because with everything that’s going on,” Velo Venegas said. “It’s definitely impacted me and how I think about college and my future.”
